The Wall Street Journal reports that CBS and Disney are in discussion with Apple to offer a subscription service for television programming.

In at least some versions of the proposal, Apple would pay media companies about $2 to $4 a month per subscriber for a broadcast network like CBS or ABC, and about $1 to $2 a month per subscriber for a basic-cable network, people familiar with the proposals said. Those amounts are in some cases much higher than media companies receive from traditional distributors. The question is whether selling fewer networks at higher prices is better business.

Apple's TV proposal may be changing as the company woos networks, according to people familiar with the matter. An initial version of the proposal had envisioned selling access to advertising-free shows from a bundle of top cable and broadcast networks—the "best of television"—with a consumer price tag of $30 a month, according to people familiar with the talks.

If Apple is able to offer television programming on a subscription basis I believe a lot of people would seriously consider dropping cable TV. Apple already has more than 100 million iTunes accounts with credit cards, so Apple could potentially add several million subscribers for a cable TV alternative in a short period of time.

Netflix is another company to watch -- they're almost as big as Time Warner and half the size of Comcast. Netflix has also quietly building a cable box alternative directly into TVs, Blu-ray players, home theater systems, and devices like the Roku Player.

It would be great to have serious alternatives to cable TV, especially if we're able to unbundle the different channels into a personalized offering (I don't watch that many channels, and yet I'm paying for hundreds).

To write about Netflix & Blockbuster I maintain a 3-out account from each service, and I've been observing new release availability from both services.

Here's a few of the latest "hot" movie releases in my Netflix queue:

Here's the same list in my Blockbuster queue:

Blu-ray availability from Netflix is the same for the above titles, but Blockbuster has "Long Waits" on the Blu-ray editions of Inglorious Basterds, Night at the Museum 2, and G-Force.

Lately Blockbuster has been faster at shipping new releases like The Hangover, but in this case it's being shipped from a remote shipping center. Note the ship date of 12/18/2009, but expected arrival date of 12/22/2009.

I'm still waiting for it to be available from Netflix:

One customer experience is not a fair way to test both services, so I'd like to get your feedback. Please leave a comment with the service you use (Netflix, Blockbuster, or both), and how successful you have been at getting new releases.

An in-the-closet lesbian mother is suing Netflix for privacy invasion, alleging the movie rental company made it possible for her to be outed when it disclosed insufficiently anonymous information about nearly half-a-million customers as part of its $1 million contest to improve its recommendation system.

The suit known as Doe v. Netflix (.pdf) was filed in federal court in California on Thursday, alleging that Netflix violated fair-trade laws and a federal privacy law protecting video rental records, when it launched its popular contest in September 2006.

The suit seeks more than $2,500 in damages for each of more than 2 million Netflix customers.

If you're interested in reading the class action suit filing, Wired has posted a copy (PDF).

Netflix just made a minor site change with interesting implications: they're putting the Watch Instantly tab before Browse DVDs:

Netflix has more than 100,000 DVD titles but just under 20,000 streaming titles, so it's curious that they're promoting streaming over DVD. Netflix also moved the friends link from the top of the page to the bottom.

Jeffrey writes, "I have been shopping around for a new Blu-ray player that will
stream NETFLIX (and other content as well), and I have read a bunch of reviews
on ALL of them. Do you have any recommendations as to what you think is the
best one. It seems a lot of people have had problems with the firmware updates
on some of the Samsung models, and the LG models are limited on what else they
can instant stream thru their players. The one I really like is the Sony BDP-N460.
Most reviews are quite favorable, and besides NETFLIX, this particular model
offers up Blockbuster On Demand, Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Crackle, Fear.net, and a host of others. I’m just checking with you to see if you have heard of any
problems where this device and NETFLIX instant streaming is concerned since
that will be my major application for this unit."

While I own a total of 7 Netflix-ready devices (2 Roku's, 2 Windows Media Center PCs and an Xbox 360), I only have 2 Netflix-ready Blu-ray players (PS3 and Insignia). I really like the PS3 for Blu-ray as it includes WIFI and also plays games, but the Insignia is just a basic Blu-ray player with WIFI. I've played with other Blu-ray players, but Jeffrey is looking for feedback from people that own the different devices.

Do you have a Netflix-ready device, such as a Roku Player, TiVo HD, Blu-ray player, TV, home theater system, PS3 or Xbox 360?

What do you like or dislike about the way it works? Have you had problems? What could be improved?

Netflix will be demonstrating Netflix-ready devices on December 17th at the Nashville Opry Mills Mall in Nashville from 10am to 9pm.

Santa’s shop may be closed to the public, but the Netflix Holiday House will be open to provide you with some great holiday gift ideas and a chance to put up your feet and instantly watch some of your favorite movies.

For one day only, Netflix and a bevy of holiday helpers will guide you through the Netflix Holiday House where you can see all the latest and greatest devices that allow you to instantly watch TV episodes and movies streamed from Netflix. So take a break from the wrapping, eggnog and carols to join us at the Netflix Holiday House at the Opry Mills Mall.